"We don’t do fantasy politics. Once the elements are proven then the time will come for decisions to be made...[but] the attack "threatens the security of us all" and Russia must explain the UK attack."

Markets appear to be running out of reasons to stay optimistic this week. The White House reshuffle and concerns about protectionist US policy agenda is at the heart of that however yesterday’s soft retail sales report also seemed to put the brakes on the ‘Goldilocks’ data scenario.

Amazon Japan has allegedly been "requesting" its vendors contribute "cooperation payments", claiming that the contributions would be used for system upgrades and other improvements. The requested payments ranged from a few percent to well over 10% of sales prices.

"A bill that began as a well-intentioned effort to satisfy some perhaps legitimate community bank grievances has instead mushroomed, sparking fears that Washington is paving the way for the next financial meltdown."

"There appears to be a huge disconnect here between the EU's professed concern for keeping Europeans safe -- as expressed in the one-hour rule -- and the EU's actual refusal to keep Europeans safe in the offline world..."

"The one notable similarity shared by the very different individuals in this this foursome of exposed spies is that none of them seemed to fully appreciate the simple fact that they would only be treated as true gentlemen as long as they served British interests..."